


Obelus

by Sorenello



Series: Taciturnity [3]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Gen, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-05-15
Updated: 2015-10-19
Packaged: 2018-03-30 15:15:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,274
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3941569
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sorenello/pseuds/Sorenello
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Their relationship reminds Castiel of learning to drive a manual transmission. </p><p>Start. Stutter. Stall. Restart. Move forward. Shift. Stall. Restart.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the only chapter written in text format. I just felt like Cas and Charlie would like the convenience of texting (emoticons!).

_> hey, nerd - happy hump day! any exciting humping planned?_

 

**< My Wednesday is tragically free of humps. **

**< I am, however, going to my first campus Pride meeting this evening.**

 

_> color me PROUD. _

 

**< Does that emotion happen to be rainbow colored?**

 

> _duh. scope it out for me._

 

**< Scope it out?**

 

_> CAS! one more year and these will be my people._

_> I need to know what I'm working with here._

 

**< Gilda's heartbreak did not last long, I see.**

 

> _ugh not heartbreak, totally mutual._

_> i swear if you treat me like glass this weekend we're duelling_

 

**< Are you finally visiting me?**

 

> _no? 8/ i thought you'd be coming home for dean._

 

**< Charlie, Dean hasn't spoken to me in weeks. What's going on?**

 

> _his dad died. they're taking it pretty hard._

_> he seriously didn't tell you? funeral is on friday._

 

**< No. **

**< I don't think he'd want me there, in that case.**

 

_> cas, dean misses you._

_> he might not say he wants you but i think he needs you_

_> and if he can't say it, mary and sam will. _

_> you're family_

_> Cas?_

 

_<_ **I'll be there.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry. I'm so sorry.

 His dress shirt still smelled of starch and the faintly singed spot on his collar. Castiel hadn't bothered telling Chuck he would be in town this weekend. His father would find out soon enough, and that wasn't where he needed to be right now.

 

The gold car pulled in next to the Impala. Castiel opened the door and immediately took pause at the crackle under his dress shoes. The usually pristine black car's side mirror was on the ground, glass shattered and spread across the pavement. As he stood he could see the dents littering her body, pieces of headlights mixed in with the glass around his feet. His eyes didn't leave the car as he made his way to the door.

 

There was only a slight hesitation before he let himself in. Though nothing like he was used to in the house – the closest thing he had to _home_ – there was a surprising level of activity. He turned the corner to see Mary making what looked to be a heavy breakfast. She was intent on whatever she was whisking but looked up when Cas cleared his throat. Her eyes were rimmed red but dry, her smile natural and fragile as she cupped his face to kiss his forehead.

 

“Almost too tall for me to do that anymore,” she laughed. Cas offered her a quick smile as she continued, “I wasn't sure Dean would call you.”

 

Castiel's lips thinned. “He didn't. Charlie told me. Is it – am I –?”

 

Mary's hands dusted over his shoulders. “Castiel, don't be silly. You're family here, you know that.” Her smile returned as she twisted his tie back into place. “Now,” her heels clicked on the floor on her way back to the counter, “Sam is in the living room and Dean is upstairs. I think they'd both appreciate seeing you.”

 

The teen moved to put a hand near where Mary's rested by the recipe card. “Mary, are you –,” and he stopped. He understood losing a parent. Hers was an emotion he didn't know how to confront, a woman mourning a man whom she had loved and hated and continued to love regardless. 'Okay' seemed inadequate. Her hand slid to grasp at his fingers for a moment.

 

“I am...,” she pursed her lips, “not sure, to be honest.” She patted his hand and gave a tight-lipped smile. “But I will be.”

 

Castiel nodded, squeezing her hand and turning toward the stairs.

 

 

The door to Dean's room was, unsurprisingly, closed. Castiel stopped, hand on the knob and forehead against the door, and puffed a breath from his cheeks. Walking in was a shock of nostalgia and hurt. The distance between he and his best friend meant Cas hadn't seen this room in what seemed like months, and he missed the moments the room had witnessed. Putting his racing and aching heart aside, he made his way to the boy on the bed.

 

Dean was in his dress slacks and undershirt, dress shirt and tie hanging neatly from the closet door. His shoes were on, looking freshly polished under a few glinting specks of what looked like glass shards. Dean didn't move when the door closed, though he must have heard it. Considering how they parted, Castiel was unsure how to go about this. He knew this almost-man from the inside out. He knew that the physical would outweigh anything he could say.

 

With a mental, “Fuck it,” Castiel crawled onto the bed. He kept his hands in front of his chest as he inched his way toward Dean. Black hair rested on the back of the younger boy's neck as Cas listened to their breathing. He had no expectations and knew there were none placed on him to speak. The raspy voice cutting through the silence startled him.

 

“He had another kid. That's why he left us. For him.”

 

Chuck had always said Castiel had a mind for puzzles. He worked through the pieces he had in his mind, adjusting them and putting them together to make a bigger picture. How could he comfort him, a child for whom parental pride was such a necessity? What could he possibly say to make him realize that his absent father leaving him for another son was not punishment? There weren't words, and Castiel could only wrap himself around Dean like a shield. A hand gripped his forearm tightly, pressing it against Dean's chest. It reminded Cas of falling out of a tree when he was six – clawing at branches, desperate and scared.

 

He put his lips to the shoulder in front of him and felt the tremors of stifled sobs.

 

“You deserve more than you are given, Dean Winchester.”  
  


 

 


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter went through several drafts, some of which include scenes that might make it as one-shots. I love the support this verse has, it makes me very happy that this is the one that's stuck in my brain so strongly.

Castiel ran his hands under the water to wash off the starchy feel of peeled potatoes. His need to be useful had finally outweighed his desire to stay next to Dean. Turning off the tap, he looked to the corner chair and was unsurprised to find Dean staring at the same book he'd had in his hands since they'd returned. Cas would have bet his entire savings it was still on the same page.

 

Turning back to where Mary and Ellen were chopping the already peeled vegetables for dinner, he picked up the knife and focused on the zucchini. Judging by the amount of food (and the cramp starting in his hands from peeling most of it), Cas suspected the entire group would be staying for dinner.

 

The Winchesters had returned home with a majority of the funeral attendants. Bobby had taken Rufus home and returned to man the grill out back. Jo, Kevin, Ash, Charlie, and a girl Cas had never met sat around Sam at the living room table. They had a deck of cards out, and whatever they were playing kept a small smile on Sam's face and occasionally drew out a laugh. Ellen and Mary were laughing as if it were any other day, packing the vegetables in tin foil.

 

Through the open window, Castiel saw a vehicle pull up that he'd only seen once before – this morning in the cemetery. Mary followed his distracted gaze.

 

“Kate's here.” She reached over Ellen's still hands to grab the towel. “I wasn't sure she'd show up, to be honest.” As she moved to walk outside, Ellen gently caught her wrist.

 

“You invited them? That a good idea?”

 

Mary gave a stiff nod. “Yes. I already told the boys and my father – I can't blame her for what John did. She says she didn't know about us until all of this, and I believe her.”

 

Ellen's expression held nothing but disbelief. Castiel kept as blank a face as possible given how strongly he agreed with her.

 

“Don't look at me like that. He abandoned her as much as us. She's hurting, maybe more than I am.” Mary took a deep breath. “And like or not, he's the boys' brother. So,” she drew herself to her full height and gave them both a mostly convincing smile, “they will receive nothing but respect in my home. From everyone.”

 

Ellen pursed her lips but nodded. She returned her attention to the foil packs just as a tentative knock came at the screen door. Castiel stared past Mary to see a woman with far too many physical similarities. Balanced on her hip was a small boy who looked nearly exactly like his mother. His eyes were the same shape as Dean's, widened at the new people in front of him.

 

“Castiel?” Mary smiled when she caught his eye. “Can you do me a favor and tell the boys that Kate and Adam are here?” She inclined her head slightly, and Cas tried to understand what she wasn't saying.

 

“ _Warn them.”_

 

“ _Remind them to be respectful.”_

 

“ _Take care of Dean.”_

 

Castiel smiled first at Mary, then the boy, who hid in his mother's neck as she gave a feeble laugh. He turned toward the living room, stocking feet making a soft thud on the hardwood of the hall. Reaching the somewhat raucous group of teens, he leaned into Sam's space.

 

“Kate is here. She brought Adam.” The younger boy's shoulders stiffened as he looked at Cas, then past him to Dean. His older brother had dropped the book over his face and was draped awkwardly over the chair arms. It was an improvement, even if looking at him made Cas sympathetically uncomfortable. Sensing Sam's hesitation, Castiel patted his shoulder. 

 

“I'll worry about your brother. Go. If you want to?” There was a moment of contemplation before Sam sent him a relieved smile and threw his cards at Jo. Sam picked his way across the floor to the kitchen as everyone piled their cards on an indignant Jo's lap. Castiel stood and moved to stand over Dean's shoulder.

 

“Kate and Adam are here.” Aside from a short pause in the Dean's breathing, he made no indication of having heard. “I'm not sure what Mary's expectations are, but I think -,” the hand Dean had over the back of the chair curled, nails digging into the upholstery. “- I think she and Sam would appreciate your support in this.”

 

Still there was no reaction. Castiel lowered himself to kneel beside the chair before reaching out to delicately lift the book off his friend's face. Dean's eyes were glassy, pointedly looking away from Castiel's as he tried to calm his breathing. Despite his efforts, a lone tear ran across his cheek to land on his collar. Castiel brushed its track away with his knuckles and found his hand enveloped in Dean's nearly bruising grip. 

 

“I know... that this is unfair. But Adam is your blood, same as Sam.” Dean's eyes squeezed shut but his hand pulled Castiel's closer. “He could benefit from growing up with such devoted brothers, if you can find it in yourself to forgive what little of your father there is in him.” 

 

Castiel spent several minutes wondering, as was his recently developed habit, if he had actually made things worse. Dean remained silent, his breath becoming more even and his hand slackening until Castiel had assumed he was falling asleep. With a sudden deep breath through his mouth and a grateful squeeze of Cas's hand, Dean finally opened his eyes. Green met blue with a mix of emotion that Castiel couldn't name.

 

Castiel allowed himself to stroke Dean's hand with his thumb, and Dean's mouth quirked at the corner. It was a parody of his usual grin, but Cas accepted it. 

 

“Do you need me to go?” Dean's reluctance was apparent as he nodded. Castiel smiled and made to stand. A tug on his sleeve stopped him.

 

“Not-,” Dean cut off to clear his throat, “Not because –.”

 

Castiel felt his smile soften. Even now, Dean was so worried about everyone else. “I know.” 

 

Dean's hand fell away as Cas walked toward the hall. It was part nosiness and part knowledge that he wouldn't be sent away that pulled him toward the kitchen. Castiel was unsure what he had expected, but it wasn't Mary and Kate having an almost jovial conversation about their nursing careers as Bobby and Ellen worked at the grill. From the doorway Cas could see the periodic glances Kate gave Sam and Adam, sitting on the floor around a coloring book – car-themed – that had clearly come with Adam if the scribbles across both pages were anything to go by. He overheard Sam asking Adam about kindergarten and an enthusiastic reply from the boy trying to mimic his older brother's clean lines. Cas huffed a laugh at the intense concentration on Adam's face, and Sam looked up. 

 

“Hey, Adam, this is our friend Cas.” Castiel waved hello and received a slow, shy wave back. “He's at college but he still comes to visit –,” Sam cut off and looked over Cas's shoulder. When he turned around it was to find Dean fidgeting with his shirt cuff, staring from his mother to Cas, then to Sam, and finally to Adam.

 

“– still comes to visit Dean.” Sam sat up and looked down at Adam, who had shuffled to again follow his lead. “Adam, that's Dean. He's our big brother.” Sam looked up at Dean with an encouraging face, a touch of hope there that Castiel thought he understood. Dean made his way slowly to sit in front of the coloring book. 

 

He settled himself and cleared his throat.

 

“You, um... You like cars, huh, buddy?” He gave Adam a smile – sincere and gentle, though somewhat feeble.

 

Across the room, Mary caught Cas's eye as the same smile lit her face.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I welcome your well-articulated criticism!


End file.
